New college football 'Super 16' poll to debut in 2014

Feb. 25, 2014
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Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher holds up the national championship trophy after the 2014 BCS title game. Will the Seminoles begin the season atop the new 'Super 16' poll? / Richard Mackson, USA TODAY Sports

by Daniel Uthman, USA TODAY Sports

by Daniel Uthman, USA TODAY Sports

What if college football had a 16-team playoff instead of a four-team playoff in 2014? How would the field of teams look week to week during the season?

Those questions may be answered, in a way, this season with the introduction of the Super 16 poll, a joint effort of the Football Writers Association of America and the National Football Foundation.

There will be a panel of 36 voters for the FWAA-NFF Grantland Rice Super 16 (its official name) drawn from the FWAA membership and the National Football Foundation. Twenty-six of the voters will be FWAA members distributed across the organization's eight regions, and 10 voters will come from the NFF. The panel of voters will be announced in the summer prior to conference media days, and their individual weekly votes will be made public.

The poll will be released on Sundays during the college football season. It will have no direct bearing on the College Football Playoff.